General Sprite and Pixel Art Discussion

[NowhereMan]

Hello everybody, I am making sprites, pixel art, I just want to make quality art. Seeing your art makes me think you all (for the most part) are highly skilled in this sort of thing. What programs do you (in this current time, as I used to use Paint, etc.) to make sprites and pixel art? What are free programs that you use, what are paid programs that you use? And have you used Aseprite and do you recommend it? Any info you can give me would be awesome! Thank you.